Hurricane Katrina Updates

Please post information about yourself, other staff or your library so that everyone in the South Central Region can keep up-to-date on our colleagues in Louisiana.

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This comes from Birmingham, AL. to Little Rock, but it concerns OSchner Hospital so I’m passing it along.

Neonatal Evacuation report from New Orleans

Just to update everyone. We just returned from New Orleans to Birmingham
with 4 neonatal patients at the same time on transport. We flew to New
Orleans airport via jet and Lifesaver helicopter met us there with the
helicopter. Lifesaver took 3 crew members from the airport to Oschner since
there was no ground access due to flooding. Oschner’s heliport was under
water and we landed on the parking deck. With equipment in hand, we walked
down 6 flights of stairs, (all of the elevators are out of service), through
the hospital where there is caution tape and leaks all throughout the
hallways. All of the windows were blown out of the 10th
floor by the storm. On the flight into the airport all you could see is
destruction and water everywhere, I thought “Truly a saddening sight”, then
with the flight on the helicopter it got worse. We were much closer at that
point and could see more destruction, more water, looters, Police/ EMS, and
uncontrolled fires all over.

New Orleans is in a total state of destruction and chaos and my heart is
broken so badly. I didn’t have good words to make them feel better but made
sure they all knew they were in my thoughts and prayers.

Here is what we know so far from conversations with Paul Whelton, M.D., senior vice president for
the health sciences at Tulane University, and Dan Jones, M.D., vice
chancellor for health affairs and dean at the University of Mississippi:

1) The vast majority of Tulane students were evacuated and are being housed
and fed at Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi.

2) The Tulane leadership has set up temporary headquarters in Jackson,
Mississippi. Dr. Whelton reports that they will likely establish a more permanent “interim leadership headquarters” in
Houston.

3) At the moment, we have no information about the situation at Louisiana
State University SOM in New Orleans. The staff at LSU SOM in Shreveport informs me that as of yet they have had no
communication with colleagues in New Orleans. The Shreveport school plans to reopen
tomorrow.

Cindy Goldstein and all of her family (except her son) left Metairie about 11 Monday morning and drove to stay with friends in Farmerville, LA. Louisiana phones are chaos right now, but after many tries I finally got a phone call through and talked to her friend. (Cindy and Jack were out at the time.) Cindy is getting a yahoo email address today that she can use anywhere. On Friday they are leaving Farmerville to go stay with family in another city.

The bad thing is that they have not heard from their son Jared yet.

We have heard from some of our LSU SLIS students in the affected Parishes (and our distance program in New Orleans), but still know nothing about many of them.

Due to flooding in New Orleans, Children’s Hospital of New Orleans is being evacuated. Our hospital president called them to offer assistance. 30 patients and their familes from Childrens of NO are currently being transported to Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO. Most of our critical caretransport team has arrived in NO and, with assistance from the Missouri National Guard C-130’s, will be arriving in KC this evening. Our social work department is arranging lodging for families. Employees have been given the option to make donations to our “Family Support Fund”, which will help pay for lodging, food, and transportaton for the NO families (this is not unusual – our hospital and its employees have a very generous spirit).

Wilba, Bill, Millie, Ethel, Mary and everyone else I have heard of or from evacuated before the storm to the homes of relatives and friends.

I’d guess that there are South Louisiana librarians in a dozen states at the moment.

We worry most about those from whom we’ve had no news — but the truth is that communications here are in chaos, and no news is not necessarily bad news. Only HAM radio — and sometimes not even that — works in some areas. Many people who evacuated are already leaving the first place they went to and going somewhere else. If you’re getting busy signals or inappropriate messages when you try to call any Louisiana phone number for an area with power — just try again a little later. I’ve had “this number is not in service” messages when I try to call my own phone.

One rumor is that School Districts are starting to hire displaced school teachers to teach the displaced school children coming to their districts. I know that BR schools are not in session because they are full of refugees and have no power, but both LSU (BR) and BR schools expect to resume classes next week.

Colleagues and friends,
Nancy and I are in Houston with my son and his family. Even with infrequent and irregular contact, I know our larger family is safe but scattered all over the South. Many of our homes in New Orleans are undoubtedly destroyed.

Needless to say, Tulane Med will be out of commission for some time, perhaps months. I’ve been able to contact only three staff out of twenty-one. The library is apparently undamaged, and one phone is working: 504-988-5157. Tulane e-mail is not working. If you hear from any of my staff, please ask them to contact me at 832-593-7404. My current e-mail is: nancy-bill@att.net.

I have no news from LSUMC-NO staff, but Marianne may know something.

Communication is very difficult. Landlines work better than cells. I will stay in touch conditions permitting.

My children and I left early from New Orleans and spent the entire time in
Little Rock with my brother and his family. My husband, Bill, had planned
to stay on the home front with the pets and a mop. He did decide to leave
after the mandatory evacuation was called and is now safely located at his
family’s camp in St. Joseph, LA on Lake Bruin with the dog, cat and birds.
He had a long harrowing drive through Mississippi with the storm coming in and little gasoline available, but ultimately arrived safely. I was always in touch with him and apprised of his whereabouts even when he was stuck on the road. I always knew he and my kids were safe, even though my husband and I ended up in different places to weather the storm.

My niece, Abby Holt at U. Arkansas Medical Center Library, forwarded some
messages that reassured me that Bill Postell, Cindy Goldstein and Mille Moore
from Tulane Medical Library did evacuate and are safe. I am concerned about
the fact the Jarred, Cindy’s son, stayed behind and I have him in my prayers
and thoughts. I know Cindy must be very worried and I hope she has contact
with him soon. I have also heard the Kathleen Puglia is safe in Arkansas at
Hot Springs Village. I am very concerned about other friends and colleagues
from New Orleans. I know many must have lost their homes. We are all refugees now and scattered. Our emergency planning included emergency contacts for everyone on the library, but it is useless in this situation. All the phone numbers are (504) numbers and the cell phones are not currently working. I have seen the massive flooding in their neighborhoods on TV. Since the evaluation occurred quickly
over the weekend, I really do not even have an idea of where anyone from work finally went for the evacuation or if they stayed. I am very worried about my friends from my neighborhood and church, who live in some of the very hard hit areas. My neighbor, Bruce Martin, is a Fire Chief, and I am terribly worried about his safety and know the harrowing situation he, along with the other fire, police and medical personnel that stayed behind out of duty as their families left out of duty, are still facing as I write this. My best friend Penny, a librarian at
New Orleans Public, and I spoke about our plans as I was leaving town during the night on Saturday, and I know she was leaving for Texas where she had a hotel reservation the next morning, but I have no way to contact her now and I really would so like to know if she and her sons are all safe and to have a way to contact her.

We do not really know about the state of our house and property, but are hopeful that we do not have a great amount of water inside as we are near the French Quarter and on the edge of the area that is “somewhat” dry according to maps on the internet. My husband is hoping to be able to go back sometime in the not so distant future to check on things and pack up a few items to bring out. (My daughter left with only flip flops!) We have lots of support from family and friends and will be fine until we can return to our home in our “darlin’ New Orleans”. We currently realize we have to find appropriate school situations
for our kids and figure out where we will stay and live as an interim home.
Sara was a sophomore at Tulane and Jess was in the 6th grade at Lusher. Schools here in Arkansas are taking in Louisiana kids both in the public schools and in the university system. We may try to go back to Baton Rouge or perhaps stay at St.
Joseph in Tensas Parish. We also have offers to stay with family in Covington, Georgia and Austin, Texas. There are a number of options for us and so we are really fortunate.

I will not have easy access to the internet in the next week or so, but hopefully soon. I have realized how important the internet is for communication. We have been glued to the local new orleans coverage on the web. I will try to check my hotmail account from time to time.

I love my friends and colleagues and hope to see them and return to my job that, well I have really realized just how much I really do love my job as a librarian at Tulane. I will think about the losses of all our New Orleans libraries, archives and museums sometime later. It is all too much to come to terms with at the moment. I feel such sorrow and sadness.

I spoke with Ethel Madden today. She is well and sounded in good spirits. She was in Houston, but is returning to Baton Rouge tomorrow (9/2). She has registered her children for school in Baton Rouge. She still does not know that condition of her home in New Orleans, but hopes to be able to go there next week to check on the conditions of things. She also mentioned that she believes her library survived OK. She really appreciates everyone’s concern and ask that we keep them all in our prayers.

We live about 60 miles north of Austin Texas and have 2 bedrooms and a bath in our house for a medical librarian colleague (& family) who needs a place to stay. Contact me via e-mail at g-hannigan@tamu.edu Our thoughts are with you.
Gale

The VA Library Network is anxious to hear from our VA colleagues in Mississippi and Louisiana. If you have information about any of these folks (Mark Petersen, Marvette Burns and their staffs), please post.On behalf of VALNET, our thoughts and prayers go out to all people in the area.

Gulf Coast hospitals this week implemented emergency procedures to prepare for Hurricane Katrina and treat the thousands of people injured during the storm, according to various news reports. Intense flooding during the storm and its aftermath has caused many hospitals to evacuate patients and staff members, and facilities that remain open are largely relying on backup generators for power and are using cell phones and two-way radios to communicate. The following is the most recent information from some of the affected hospitals:

Shattered windows at New Orleans-based Charity Hospital forced officials to move patients to lower levels. Continued power outages have left generators running low on diesel fuel, and the Associated Press reports that nurses “hand-pumped ventilators” for critically ill patients when some generators failed.

New Orleans-based Ochsner Clinic Foundation reportedly has ample food, water, and medical supplies but is running on emergency generators without air conditioning and is accepting “only those patients with life-threatening illnesses.”

Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans was surrounded by water and hired helicopters to evacuate about 200 patients after both backup generators failed; more than 800 hospital workers and families were also in need of evacuation.

Chalmette Medical Center and “another hospital in East New Orleans” said they would transport roughly 200 patients to hospitals near Alexandria, Shreveport, and Monroe, La.

Four facilities on the Medical Center of Louisiana campus in New Orleans plan to evacuate.

The Times-Picayune reports that more than 100 police officers weathering the storm at LSU Medical Center in New Orleans were “trapped by high water” and evacuated by rescue crews.

New Orleans-based Children’s Hospital experienced attempted looting, leaving hospital administrators fearful for the “safety of the staff and the 100 kids inside the hospital.” Flooding prevented law enforcement officials from responding.

Marrero, La.-based West Jefferson Medical Center is “operating beyond capacity” but has received extra fuel for generators from the U.S. Navy and additional supplies from other area facilities.

Tenet Healthcare said flooding was forcing the evacuation of its Memorial Hospital and Lindy Boggs Medical Center in New Orleans and Gulf Coast Medical Center in Biloxi, Miss.; it is unclear how long the hospitals will remain closed. Three Louisiana facilities—Kenner Regional Medical Center in Kenner, Meadowcrest Hospital in Gretna, and NorthShore Regional Medical Center in Slidell—will remain open, despite water and wind damage. A Tenet spokesperson said the hospitals have enough supplies and generator power to sustain them for three to five days but that officials expect the effects of Katrina to last “much longer.”

Three of the five hospitals in Gulfport, Miss., were left without functioning EDs.

Keesler Medical Center at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., was damaged; patients are being transferred to San Antonio facilities for treatment.

Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in Florida lost long-distance phone service and its internal paging system but has equipped nurses’ stations and the business office with cell phones to make outgoing calls.

I talked to Kathleen Puglia yesterday. She is now safe in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas. Her brother who is the PR person for the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board made it out of New Orleans yesterday and is on his way to Hot Springs Village.

I also talked to Wilba Swearingen last night. She was in Beaumont TX for four days and is now in Dallas at a friend’s house. She thinks the people who work in the LSUHSC library are ok.

Mary Holt is leaving relatives in Little Rock today to go to a relative’s home in St. Joseph, LA.

Today I talked to Millie Moore. She, her husband, mother-in-law and son are in Houston at a hotel near the Astrodome. Her father and daughter are in Tampa with Millie’s sister, and a son is in school in Baton Rouge. Millie and Carl will probably go to Knoxville temporarily, since the company he works for has an office there, and she will find a school for her daughter to attend there.

You can find information about the status of Tulane and LSU medical schools, etc. on the AAMC website at http://www.aamc.org.

In addition to all of the evacuees staying with friends and family members we have other kinds of evacuees … city and parish governments from affected areas, corporate headquarters, local news media and various agencies and companies either “double-bunking” or scrambling for whatever space they can get. In addition to that is all of the people from FEMA, Red Cross, the National Guard and various other kinds of relief organizations, national and international news media … and the evacuees in the schools and indoor athletic facilites.

Just got a message from Pauline Fulda. She and her husband are fine and staying in Morgan City with her brother. They’re hoping to be able to get in to check out their house (on the west bank in unincorporated Jefferson Parish) on Monday, to pick some stuff up, but until then they don’t really know what the condition of their area will be.

Bless her, she was worried about getting the MLA Proceedings finished up for the January JMLA. I told her not to worry about it.

Has anyone heard from Pauline Fulda? I’m hoping my co-editor is faring well with this disaster. I think she and her husband both have extended families in the affected areas. Here’s hoping all of our colleagues are making it through this in good health.

The AAMC website, http://www.aamc.org/ has information on LSUHSC in New Orleans, as well as Tulane University School of Medicine. I am unable to get into the the Tulane University School of Medicine’s website.

Wade Glenn and Lihong Shi from Tulane graduate anthropology program are safe in Virginia. If any of our friends, faculty, or students find this please e-mail us at wadeglenn@hotmail.com and lihongs@hotmail.com

The Chapter Relations Office, which serves as the lead unit in ALA in gathering information on disasters in the United States, already has contacted ALA chapters in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi to get information on damage to libraries in the region. American Libraries also is compiling news coverage of library impacts at http://www.ala.org/alonline. Since many residents, including librarians, library students, library educators and library workers, had evacuated the area and may not be able to return for a few days or weeks, it may be a while before we have a full assessment of the damage.

Thank you Michelynn and all who thought to put up this blog. I found it through the NNLM website and was desperate for reliable information. I’m glad to hear the good news about so many of my former friends and colleagues. I’m thinking of all of you. My kids are in Minnesota with me. Their dad is still at LSU weathering the lack of power and swelling population.
Eileen Stanley

My sister is an MD who has been in lockdown at Oschner since Sunday. We were hearing from her every day by e-mail, but lost contact with her today. Has anyone received news about Oschner today, Friday 9/2/05?

Thanks for all the kind words from our colleagues as we weather the aftermath of this hurricane. I was so glad to get news of other librarians in our area through this NN/LM serivce. Here is a list I have so far of staff at the LSUHSC Library in New Orleans who are now safe and out of the New Orleans area. They are in states from Florida to Texas.
Marlene Bishop, Carolyn Bridgewater, Patrick Garon, Molly Knapp, Hanna Kwasik, Jenifer Lloyd, Mary Marix, Keith Pickett, and Wilba Swearingen.

>Dr. McKnight,
>
>If you are in contact with Cindy, please let her know that Jason Gillis,
>his wife Christina, and I weathered the hurricane in the Tulane Medical
>Library, and were evacuated from the helipad yesterday. Jason and his wife
>are going to his family in Georgia. If Cindy knows of any email address
>that our library is using to identify where we all ended up, please let me
>know about it.
>
>I am with my brother’s extended family in Port Barr. His sister-in-law
>works in the Budget Office at LSU, and I’m going to ride in with her on
>Tuesday,and come by the SLIS offices to investigate options for this
>semester and the next few months. My two classes this semester are 7008
>and 7013, one meets weekly on Saturday and the other is WEB only.
>
>I hope all your family and friends came through all right.
>
>Hope to see you tomorrow,\
>
>Mike Jennings

If anyone has any communication with East Jefferson Parrish Hospital (one of the few still operational), I would like news of Bob Lane.

Bob was the head of environmental services (housekeeping) at Norman Regional Hospital and holds a similar position at East Jefferson. I’m not surprised that I can’t get through to his cell phone and knowing Bob, expect that he has stayed there working since before the storm. Before Ivan he took everything important out of his apartment and put it in his car on the top level of the parking garage, intending to stay there throughout the storm and the aftermath.

I just got a call from Bob Lane – some of the Jeff parish phone systems are working again. As I suspected, Bob has been working in the West Jeff hospital since before the storm hit. Sodexo provided large generators very quickly and they got water and sanitation back on Thursday. The neighborhood Walmart Superstore invited all of the hospital employees to come in to get clean clothes and whatever else they needed. They had hundreds of extra patients, including evacuees from several nearby nursing homes, but enough have been taken out by helicopter now that they actually have some empty beds.

Dear All,
Paula and I have watched with horror the events taking place in New Orleans and along the coastal area. We are so thankful that this blog has been established so that we can find out about our dear colleagues and friends. We cannot imagine the difficulty of going through during this devastating time. Our thoughts, prayers, and love are with you all.

I rode the storm out in the Tulane Medical Library, along with Jason Gillis and his wife Christina Hernandez. Jason is our senior circulation staff member, and Christina is a librarian with Newcomb College.

The library suffered no damage during the storm, and we only had one leak, which we were able to contain. When the water started rising on Tuesday, we moved the computers from the lab we operate on the first floor upstairs. By Wednesday the water had stopped rising, and the Medical School had about four feet of water on the first floor, and the basement was flooded. When they ordered us to evacuate on Thursday, the collection was undamaged, hopefully the authorities were able protect the HSC complex after the Tulane Police force was removed. I can not say enough about how wonderful the Tulane Police were.

Here is a list of the Tulane Medical Library staff that we have heard are safe.

From locations in the various parking garages we were able to see both the LSUHSC building and the New Orleans Public Library. LSU appeared undamaged from our vantage point, and should have flooded to the same level as Tulane. New Orleans Public had two large ground floor windows broken out on the first day, and since it is elevated, did not appear to have suffered any flooding.

Someone earlier had asked about Oschner. My sister-in-law is a lab tech at Oschner, and was on duty for the hurricane. Oschner never ceased operations, and is still open. They did suffer loss of power but back-up generators were able to keep critical systems functioning. There was no flooding, or civil unrest. My sister-in-law goes back on duty on Tuesday. We are relocating to their house in St. Charles Parish tomorrow.

Dear all, I am former staff member of Tulane Medical Library from about 2 yrs ago. I was very glad to discover this weblog and hear news of former co-workers and their families are in safe places. I have been in touch with other recent former staff members, keeping up with new updates on everyone.

Susan Dorsey and her husband are safe and were able to evacuate to their daughter’s home in Houston. I received an e-mail today from her son confirming so. I also phone Kathleen P. a couple days ago at her condo in AK, and she was also worried about Patsy Copeland and Horace, who she thinks must have stayed in hospital where Horace works. Does anyone know where they are?

Karimah Cooper informed me Linda Carter is safe with her family in north AL, and Shane Hodgson stayed on Norhshore as far as we know.

It is good to hear of all of you on this weblog..
All my thoughts and my prayers are with you all,

Thanks to all for the good wishes. I am in Bayou Goula, La. right now. I’ll be moving to an apartment in Baton Rouge later this week. My family evacuated so all are well. Most have gone back today to check on their houses in Jefferson Parish and since we all congregate near the river, they seem to have escaped with minor damage. We’ll see when they let us back into Orleans Parish. Please feel free to email me: jkl2126@earthlink.net

So grateful for this blog! If anyone needs housing in the Houston area, My husband (a retired medical librarian) and I offer room in our house in Pearland. We have two Scottish terriers (we are part of the Scottish Terrier Rescue network,
so can foster your Scottie, too). We have a fenced yard, so your dog is welcome. I drive into the Tx Medical Center daily to work at TWU, across the street from the NNLM regional HAM-TMC (Jones) Library. We took 6 into our home after Tropical Storm Allison in ’01, so we are ready. We have been supporting the Baytown, Tx shelters with donations from TWU. Contact me at mgoff@twu.edu, 713.794.2481,home 281.489.1348. If anyone has news of Deborah Alley Hann, Biloxi resident and retired medical library technician formerly of Biloxi Pub Library and (with me) Brooks AFB Human Resources Directorate library in San Antonio, would love news. We have been searching for her since Aug.30 and have her on eight lists online.

My husband and I left Sunday morning and had a 13 hour trip to Houston. It was hard to decide to leave but we are so glad we did. We are staying with our daughter. I’m so happy to hear about everyone, I have been so anxious for news and concerned about everyone. Thanks for the web site and thanks for your prayers. Until we meet again…
Sue

Health science librarians in New Hampshire and Vermont are anxious to help our colleagues in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. What can we do immediately, and as we look toward the future ?
Do you need personal supplies? Food, clothing, pet food ?
Shall we save our duplicate texts and journals for you, as you think about rebuilding ?
Can we help you with interlibrary loan services ?
Please let us know what we can do.
You are in our thoughts and prayers.

The Texas Library Association’s Disaster Relief Fund has been expanded to collect donations for libraries in the Gulf Coast area as well as for libraries providing support for the evacuees. One hundred percent of your donation will be sent to the state library agency or library association in the state of your choice. TLA is also developing a plan to accept book donations for shipment to the affected states at an appropriate time.

I have heard that Mary and Mark are out of New Orleans, but I am not certain where they are. A list of VA folks who had contacted our regional office in Jackson was released yesterday, and their names were on it. I have no knowledge of the rest of the VAMC library staff. Marsha Houston VAMC

Looking for any information on the whereabouts of Shane Hodgson (and Melissa, Sophie, Barret). I have not been able to reach Shane by phone, and I am a little concerned about the news that he stayed on Northshore….
Tara Martinezmartinez.tara@comcast.net

Greetings all! Our group made it safe from UH, then to Armstrong airport, what a nighmare that was, and then to Kelley AFB in San Antonio, TX. Myself and Dr. Tracy Legros are together in Zachary, La, just north of Baton Rouge. Anyone in ED department, et al please contact us and let know what’s up! Land line: 225-658-9971. My cell (Paul) 225-241-4082. Hope all are as blessed as we have been! Peace! ~Paul Overland

I had an email from Shane saying his family loaded up a truck of belongings and spent last week in College Station TX. When he emailed me he was safely back home. There was no damage to his home and his wife was back to work.

Bruce: My son is enrolled at Franklin & Nocca. Do you have any detailed info as to how those schools are planning to manage things in the future? And…Doesn’t the Louisiana School in Natchitoches begin in 11th grade? (or are they accepting 9th & 10th graders now?)

I’d appreciate any details (I heard Nocca had minimal physical damage, but that Franklin did not do well)

I am looking for a family member by the name of Robert Vining. He was awaiting a heart transplant at Oschner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans when the hurricane hit. We had heard that this was the only hospital not evacuated. We have heard nothing and have not been able to contact anyone. Please Help……

I have heard on the news that St. Bernard and Orleans will not have school this year. But, as you know everything is changing from day to day. I had also heard that only 9 of the New Orleans public schools had no flooding.

My wife is a nurse at Ochsner and has been working at Ochsner for the past week. Other than power blackouts for the first 4 or 5 days they fared well. My wife does say that the food for the staff has been horrible, but they have been doing a somewhat better job for the patients..

The USPS website at http://www.usps.com has a “Hurricane Katrina Service Update” link that tells exactly which zip codes still have restrictions. Please note that there are different kinds of service: i.e. Standard versus Express, etc.

According to today’s Times-Picayune, postal service in zip codes beginning with 395, 700, 701 and 704 is still suspeneded until further notice.

On another note, thank you, Michelle, for establishing this message board. I had heard from only one person from my library until today, and now I see that virtually everyone is safe and accounted for.

My brother-in-law is a chaplain at Ochsner Hospital. He has been there since the day before the hurricane. I know if you contact him by email, he can find out about loved ones. His email is chaphoward3@aol.com. His name is Howard Gillette. He is able to receive and send email. Tell him his sister-in-law passed his email on.

Just so you know, I am a library consultant with the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.